• Genetically Modified Organism (GMO): A plant or living thing that has been genetically manipulated by man and is not considered ‘natural’. An example would be roundup ready seeds which have been altered to tolerate high doses of the herbicides. (Roundup).
•  Genetically modified seed has proteins that are different than conventional seed.
• These proteins are not assimilated in the human or animal gut in the same way as conventional food.

  Roundup Ready was once thought the saving grace, but now it isn’t working as well; weeds are resistant and it ties up nutrients in the soil. Further issues have to do with animal health, one of them is the inability to absorb necessary micronutrients from the soil treated with herbicides.

  There is an increasing number of farmers reporting better animal health with non-GMO feed, less antibiotics, less respiratory issues as well as reports of greater efficiency with non-GMO feed;  livestock don’t have to eat as much. 

  There have been many anecdotal reports of animals that, if given the choice, will eat non-GMO or organic corn and leave the GM corn untouched. This theory was tested  by putting non-GMO corn and GM corn into #10 envelopes and placing three sets of envelopes in his shop, garage, and an electrical utility shed for mice to eat. The mice ate through the non-GMO corn envelopes and left the GM corn envelopes untouched, leaving the farmer to wonder: “Why do the mice go to the non-GMO corn? Animals aren’t dumb. Something’s going on.”

  “If you want healthy animals, put them on a non-GMO diet. They will gain weight faster with less feed, their health and reproduction will be better overall,” says David W. Nelson, president of Minnesota-based Pedogenesi Inc.

  Iowa-based crop advisor Howard Vlieger has seen fewer health issues and reduced expense and  less need for antibiotics. “There will be an improvement in overall herd health and performance. You will notice your animals readily eat the feed and you will see less waste.” he says.

First off;
when many Canadians think of farm animals, they picture cattle munching grass on rolling pastures, chickens pecking on the ground outside of picturesque red barns, and pigs gobbling down food at the trough.

Over the last 50 years, the way food animals are raised and fed has changed dramatically surprised to find that most of the food animals in Canada are no longer raised on farms at all. Instead they come from crowded animal factories, also known as large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

To save money, they’ve redefined what constitutes animal feed, with little consideration of what is best for the animals or for human health. As a result, many of the ingredients used in feed these days are not the kind of food the animals are designed by nature to eat, this includes the conventional grains as mentioned in the GMO section which contributes to the resulting health issues we face today with animals and humans. 

Many are coming to understand that we and our animals are not at  optimum health compared to yester year and it starts here.

Organic foods are “grown” based on strict guidelines. Regulations are much stricter than for Non- organic farmers.

 Organic feed is that which is certified to be free of additives such as pesticides, hormones, antibiotics or other ‘foreign’ substances. refers to produce as being organic ‘if it’s certified to have grown on soil  that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest.’

One of the most common reasons that farmers and producers “genetically modify ” is to reduce their costs and streamline production through engineering plants to become tolerant of herbicides and pesticides.  

Sidenote: This means that when they spray the fields for weeds, the plants intended for consumption are sprayed as well! Yikes.   GMO plants are resistant to the spray and make it to market with the spray on it for all to consume.

  Non GMO  farming is taking on more risks.  There are more costs associated with weed control, crops lost to pests and less yield overall compared to GMO’s as their seed is more resistant to pests. This is a trade-off,  where we pay more for Non-GMO’s , at first,  save on costs associated with poor health and mortality in your animals in the end. We are only starting to see the effects of GMO’s.

Demand for organic foods has greatly increased over the years and farmers interested in organic farming have to strictly adhere to the standards and practices set for organic farming.  The costs to this are great.

Other extra costs come from:

 No pesticides are used, therefore human labor is more intensive, we’ve all seen the lawn when there’s no weed control!  

Government certification is required to sell food as organic and the organic farmer must ensure farming land meets all the requirements. 

Paying for an inspections and travel is another part of  significant costs that non organic producers do not incur. 

The end product must be shipped and processed separately from conventional food.

Organic food supply is limited.

As a general rule, laying hens require 1/4 lb a feed a day or  3/4cup.  This means  1 and 3/4 lb a week. Roughly,  a 50lb bag will last about 200 days per hen.  

It means we can blend any  Non GMO organic product we have available to your liking. We also have proven blends from Fertrell’s nutritionists that optimize growth and required nutrition needs for the specific livestock.